Show Me How To Live
by one of the better ones
Summary: She just needed a place to stay, to help her stay clean. She never expected it would turn into so much more. RN


**Title:** Show Me How To Live

**Chapter:** Pro's and Con's of Breathing

**Pairing**: Rachel/Nathan.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing, except this idea. Trust me, if I owned OTH, wouldn't I put Rachel & Nathan together, and kill off Haley? Thought so…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The past week had been more than difficult for Rachel. Not only had she OD'd and almost died, but she had to quit drugs. Cold turkey. Luckily, she had Brooke there for her. Brooke had been the only one she would quit for. Then Mouth had come over. He turned down sex with her. That hurt. She was used to getting anyone, anytime. But Mouth, of all people, had turned her down. Then she got the text from Karl, one of the people she used to party with. He wanted her to join a bunch of people partying in South Beach, and using drugs. Luckily, she was strong enough that she didn't go to the party. Then later that night, when she was asleep, Victoria came in and started bitching at her. What Victoria had said couldn't be true. It couldn't. She wouldn't relapse. She wouldn't do that to Brooke. She just…wouldn't. She promised herself that. Soon, although it seemed too long to her, Victoria left. Rachel went upstairs and took all her bags, and made her way back downstairs. To the envelope of Brooke's money. She took three hundred dollars and left Brooke a note.

_Brookie, I have to get away for a bit. Your mom…lets just say she's not good for a recovering druggie to be around. I borrowed some cash. I'll pay you back soon, I promise. Just…give me a few weeks. I'll get into contact with you as soon as I fell like its safe for myself. I love you, and I have to say once again, thank you Brooke. xoxo- Rachy_

Rachel walked out Brooke's door, not once looking back. Instead she went to the only place she would even consider venturing. Soon enough, she was at the front door of Nathan and Haley's house. Yeah the party had been there, but she figured it had already ended. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. In a matter of moments, Haley was at the door. "Nathan, geez. Can you try being a little quieter? Jamie's sleeping." Haley turned her head to see who was at the door, and was shocked to see Rachel. "Rachel?" She asked her voice quiet, shocked.

"Hi Haley." She said quietly, feeling somewhat ashamed. "I'm really sorry, but can I just stay here for the night? I'll find someplace else to stay tomorrow, I just need someplace to crash for the night…" She felt disappointed in herself for asking such a thing. It just…wasn't the Rachel that she normally was. Normally she was self-sufficient. Now she was asking for favors, needing someone else's help. She had been like that all week, and even though she was proud she had managed to quit doing drugs, she was still disappointed that she had to rely on others so much.

"Oh, um…" Haley stuttered, gesturing to allow Rachel in. "The..um…the guestroom is upstairs." She barely managed, still in shock. Rachel Gatina was asking to stay there. Rachel Gatina, who had tried to steal her husband in high school. But, it was years later. Rachel had seemed to change during high school. Even though Haley had hated her, she had still seemed to become a better person. Therefore, she would let Rachel stay a night.

"Thank you Haley. You have no idea how much this means to me." Rachel whispered with a smile on her face. She quickly walked upstairs, and Haley was happy too. Haley had done a good dead, and made someone else happy. That was all she really enjoyed doing, making others happy.

"Oh Nathan." Haley called out, walking to find him. "I'm confused…Rachel is here. Rachel Gatina. She's spending the night. She's in the guest room. Can you go up there and find out what happened? I'm too…shocked." Shocked was the only word she could come up with, though shocked didn't even start to describe it. "By the way, if you do…you can crash on the couch tonight." She wasn't sure if she could handle Rachel by herself. And besides, Jamie wanted Nathan back. After the little speech Skillz had given her at the party, she had to do this for Jamie.

"Rachel Gatina is staying here?" Nathan asked with a small chuckle. "Yeah, I'll go up and talk to her. Don't worry." He reassured his wife. Hell, he was shocked that he was sleeping on the couch tonight. He was able to stay at home again. That was good progress. He had no idea what had made her change her mind, but he was glad about it. He jogged up the stairs and opened the guest room door, shocked to see Rachel standing there in just her thong, nothing on top. "Oh God!" He quickly slammed the door shut, not having expected…that. "Rachel, I'm sorry." He told her quietly through the door, making sure Haley didn't hear. "I wasn't expecting that. I'm so, so sorry." He continued apologizing, and was surprised when the door opened, and he practically fell because he was leaning against it.

Rachel just laughed at the sight in front of her. "It's ok Nate. I was just getting changed." She smirked, gesturing to the pajamas she was now wearing. Or rather her short shorts and cropped camisole. "So, the first time you see me in years you have to see me naked? Nice." She couldn't help but laugh at that. "So I take it that Haley sent you up here to figure out why I was here?" She questioned, figuring that she was right.

"Well, maybe. Maybe, probably, yes." He confessed, walking into Rachel's room and sitting on the bed. "Not only why are you here, but what have you done in the last few years? Its been so long." Its been so long since any of the group spent time together.

"Well let me see, why am I here? I needed someplace to stay. I've been at Brooke's for the last week or so. But I had some issues with her mother, so I couldn't stay there any longer. Whatever you do Nathan, please don't let Brooke know I'm here? I'll tell her eventually, just not yet." Then she knew she would have to go into her past next. That wasn't what she wanted to talk about, not at all. "Hey, do you guys need help cleaning up after the party?" She questioned.

Nathan wouldn't let her get away from the subject that easily. "Maybe after you tell me what happened these last few years." He tapped the spot on the bed next to him, gesturing for Rachel to join him.

Rachel grudgingly sat down next to him before starting. "Well, I didn't do the whole college thing. I went right for the modeling instead. Brooke and I kept in close contact though, and when she started Clothes Over Bros I couldn't be happier. Especially when she asked me to be the face of the company. But the whole modeling lifestyle…things sorta spiraled out of control." She decided, putting it lightly.

"Define spiraled out of control?" Nate asked, lightly putting his hand on her back, noticing that she was tensing up. "Rach, what happened?" She seemed really upset by this, and for some unknown reason, he wanted to be the one that was there for her and made everything better.

"I turned to drugs." She explained. "It started out simple enough. In high school I would smoke weed. All the time. Then when I started modeling, I got into the stronger stuff. It was typical enough: getting smashed, smoking some pot, then hooking up with a random guy. That was my life. I did that every night. Then one day I found heroin, and my life just seemed more vivid. Brooke found me in New York. I had OD'ed. She took me in, and I beat it. But her mom went on this rant tonight and I just…can't be in that environment. Which is why I need to stay here." She explained to him. "Please just, whatever you do, don't tell Haley?" She requested, not ready for anyone else to know. She didn't even know why she told Nathan.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered to Rachel, wrapping his arms around her. She was the strongest person that he knew, and for some reason he just wanted to help her. He wanted to make her better. "Of course I won't tell Haley. It'll be our little secret." He assured her, unaware that Haley was in the hall standing right next to the door listening in.

_He's cheating on me with her? Already? _All that Haley had heard was him saying that he wouldn't tell her, and that it would be their secret. The possibilities of what that could mean were going crazy in her head.

"Thank you Nathan. You have no idea how much that means to me." She needed more people like him in her life. More people that truly cared about her. More people that were kind and generous, and caring.

"Its ok Rach. Don't freak out. I'm here for you, and I will be. Through everything." He hugged her tighter, wanting to help her through this. He didn't know why, maybe it was because she just needed help. Or maybe there was another underlying reason, he didn't know. "Don't worry about helping clean, why don't you just go to sleep? I think what you really need right now is sleep." He laid down in bed with her, planning on getting up as soon as Rachel fell asleep. However, before Rachel got the chance to fall asleep, Nathan fell asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey, I know this is a bad time, but I really need to talk to you." Haley said quietly into the phone. The voice on the other end assured her that it was no problem, and Haley started in, freaking out completely. "He doesn't want to be with me! He's with this slut from high school! She asked to stay here, so I asked him to find out what she wanted! He went to check on her and I was listening outside the door! They were whispering and he said he wouldn't tell me, that it would be their secret! Plus, he hasn't left her room yet! They're obviously sleeping together, with me right down the hall!" Haley was close to tears at this point, the voice on the other end of the phone calming her slowly.

"Haley, breathe." Lindsey's voice echoed through the phone. "He's not doing anything with her. He loves you too much. Whatever you do, don't go storming in there, or start accusing him. He told you last time. If anything happens you know he'll tell you. He'll feel too guilty not to. He's too smart to give up someone as special and perfect as you."

Haley felt amazingly comforted by her friend's words, and just smiled through the phone. "Alright, that made me feel better. I'm gonna go to bed now. Night Linds, I love you."

"I love you too Haley." Lindsey said to her, closing the phone. She looked next to her and saw Lucas already asleep. Typical. She rested her head against the pillow and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Victoria Davis walked through the door of her daughter's house, wanting nothing more than to destroy that little leech Rachel once and for all. Rachel and Brooke were to close for Victoria's liking, and she needed to be stopped before Brooke took the business away from Victoria. After all, running her own business was all she had wanted, all her life. And Brooke made it happen, completely accidentally.

"Where is she?" Victoria wondered aloud, not seeing Rachel on the couch anymore. As she walked by the table she saw a note. Upon reading it, she found the perfect solution for her Rachel issues. She crumpled up the note, shoving it in her back pocket. Then there was the rest of the money. Make it seem like her little friend had relapsed, and make Brooke regret ever helping her out. After all, the home of Victoria Davis's daughter was not a place for some drugged out whore to be staying. Victoria took the envelope filled with money and slipped it into her pocket, quickly leaving the house and knowing that Brooke would think Rachel had done it. This was it. Victoria would once again win.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: Ok, so I finally decided to do a s5 fic…all mine have been set in high school (or Better Than Me was between high school && college, but you get my point). && all my other fics have been totally AU…not this one. But I will admit, the couples will be pretty AU. Also, this was pretty short for my liking, but I wanted to get it up! Following chapters will be longer, I promise. Please review!!


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